50 YEARS AGO: JUNE, 1974
Mike Drazkowski earned a berth in the state track and field tournament for Monticello in the half mile. Drazkowski was the Region 5A runner-up in the half-mile after posting a school record time of 2:02. He was just three-tenths of a second behind the winning time.
The Monticello High School junior was the only state participant for Monticello but they nearly had another. High jumper Marty Fitzgerald tied at 5-10 for the top spot but required more attempts to clear the top bar. The winner cleared 5-10 in one try. The runner-up did it in two jumps. Fitzgerald tied another athlete with three attempts to clear the bar.
25 YEARS AGO: JUNE, 1999
Two golfers represented Monticello at the state golf tournament. Jenna Carlson qualified for the girls and Brian Moores qualified for the boys. Carlson was one shot shy of winning the individual medal. Moores was fourth overall.
Cannon birded her first hole and it was on from there. She hit a lot of greens on the front nine and despite a slip-up on the back nine on day one, was one shot shy of the lead. It was the second state tournament Cannon made as a junior for Monticello, previously qualifying in the girls’ state swim meet.
Moores, a senior in 1999, shot a 75 at the Waseca Country Club during the section tournament and clinched a spot in the state tournament. He bogeyed three of the first four holes but settled in and shot a one over par the rest of the way.
Golf wasn’t the only sport to send athletes to a state tournament. Two distance runners and two hurdlers punched tickets to the state tournament as well.
Roberto Tapiz won the 300-meter hurdles, Nichole Shepperson won the girls’ 100-meter, Leah Wurm won the girls’ 3,200 and Tonya Anderson was the runner-up in the girls’ 1,600.
20 other Monticello athletes competed in the section track and field meet but didn’t qualify for state. The boys’ 4x400-meter relay team of Tapiz, Josh Yeager, Josh Christensen and Jason Quill was close. Tapiz was also close in the 110-meter hurdles but was a tenth of a second short of second place.
Additionally, Eric Holmstadt was fourth in the discus and Marty McAlpine was fifth in the high jump.
10 YEARS AGO: JUNE, 2014
Two Monticello seniors earned All-State honors at the state track and field meet. Sam Johnson qualified for the finals in two of his three events. He finished third in the 400-meter finals and sixth in the 200-meter finals.
The sun was shining during the preliminary rounds but temperatures dipped into the 50s during the finals. During the prelims, Johnson turned in two personal record times. He qualified for the finals in the 400 with a time of 48.41 (a half second below his previous PR, and school record).
To earn a spot in the 200 final, Johnson posted a school record time of 22.12.
It was the third and fourth time that Johnson turned in All-State performances in his high school career. “You use it or lose it,” said Johnson.
The other All-State honoree was Jake Olson, who moved up a few places from where he was seeded to take fourth in the discus.
Discus participants get three guaranteed throws and three more if the first three are good enough. On his second toss, Olson popped off for a distance of 152-19, good enough to get him to the finals. He entered the finals as the fourth seed, which was where he finished.
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